ANGIE RICHARDSON: Confronting the horrors to honour the lives lost on October 7

It has been a year since the October 7 2023 Hamas-led massacre of southern Israeli communities. We are reminded of the brutality of that day, arguably the worst atrocity to be committed against Jews since the Holocaust.

In remembering the lives lost on both sides of the Gaza war, we must confront the inhumane treatment of civilians in war zones globally, particularly the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.

As a group of concerned SA women, our awareness-raising campaign initially focused on the horrific acts of sexual violence committed by Hamas terrorists. Many dismissed us as mere Israeli sympathisers, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Our group includes women with distinguished careers in upholding human rights and fighting gender-based violence. We understand that victims of rape and sexual violence are often not believed, with the burden of proof without fail falling on the victim. The denial of Hamas’ widespread sexual violence on October 7 2023 only reinforces this sad reality.

This response also explains the lack of attention to sexual violence as a weapon of war in conflicts raging across Africa. Displaced, refugee and migrant women and girls face heightened levels of conflict-related sexual violence in countries such as Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan.

This year, the UN secretary-general’s annual report found that verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence rose by a staggering 50% in the past year. It is occurring in more than 20 different conflict zones, from Afghanistan to Ukraine, from Israel to Africa. However, it warns that this stark figure may only be a fraction of the complete global picture.

The report notes that “weapon bearers from both state and non-state armed groups targeted civilians with rape, gang rape and abductions, amid record levels of internal and cross-border displacement.”

The UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DRC documented 733 cases of sexual violence in 2023, affecting primarily women and girls. Most of these cases were attributed to non-state armed groups, with state actors also implicated.

In Sudan, since the outbreak of fighting in April 2023, the UN has documented cases of conflict-related sexual violence against 98 women, 18 girls, one man and one boy, with reports of abductions and trafficking. These reports leave no doubt that rape and sexual violence perpetrated by the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are widespread and systematic.

The UN’s high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, has said “rape is being used as a weapon of war”. This assessment is further supported by testimonies from survivors such as Fatima, who told the BBC: “During the war, since the RSF arrived, immediately we started hearing of rapes until we saw it right in front of us in our neighbours.”

The tragedy of this lies in the collective inability to believe victims. If we cannot confront the mountains of evidence that proves Hamas’ sexual assaults on Israeli citizens, how can we hope to stop the ongoing atrocities against thousands of African women, children and men in conflict zones?

By disbelieving Israeli victims, we condemn millions in other conflict zones to the same fate. 

In the case of Israel, multiple official investigations into the October 7 attacks by international organisations have documented the scale and nature of the atrocities.

Human Rights Watch’s comprehensive report, based on interviews with 60 people and extensive analysis of evidence, confirmed war crimes and other severe abuses by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups. 

The UN investigation, released in March 2024, corroborated accounts of rape and sexual abuse during the attacks and in captivity. The Association of Rape Crisis Centres in Israel has played a crucial role in documenting and responding to sexual violence, providing support to survivors and their families. 

These investigations collectively reveal a pattern of extreme violence and brutality, with civilians indiscriminately targeted, families massacred, and hostages subjected to inhumane treatment and sexual violence. 

The Nova music festival became a scene of particular horror, with at least 364 people killed in a matter of hours — many of the bodies showing signs of rape and sexual assault. There are only a handful of people who survived the sexual violence; most were murdered. However, one brave man has publicly shared his story. He spoke to the media about his brutal gang rape by Hamas’ elite Nukhba unit.

Despite this bravery, the international community’s response has been mixed. While many world leaders have condemned the attacks, at the same time some institutions and commentators have engaged in denial or justification specific to Hamas’ acts of sexual violence. This has placed intense pressure on victims and survivors to share their stories publicly, risking further victimisation. For survivors of sexual violence this demand for public disclosure is particularly cruel.

The burden of proof on the October 7 survivors has been set impossibly high. However, this mirrors the challenges faced by victims of sexual violence in conflict zones worldwide, where disbelief and scepticism often greet their accounts.

As we reflect on these events a year later, it is crucial to recognise the ongoing impact on survivors, families of victims, and the hostages who remain in captivity. The 101 remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas and the nearly 2-million Gazan civilians trapped in a war zone serve as a stark reminder of the ongoing human cost of this conflict.

While the October 7 attacks have reignited debates about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, these discussions must not obscure or diminish the gravity of the crimes committed on that day. By confronting the undeniable evidence of the October 7 atrocities we bring ourselves closer to ending conflict-related sexual violence. We must believe the survivors and honour the memories of those lost by working towards a future where such horrors are prevented, and all victims are heard and supported.

Only by acknowledging these brutal realities can we hope to create a world where civilians are protected in times of conflict and where the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war is universally condemned and eradicated.

• Richardson is with Women Action Campaign SA.